Windows Phone 8-based devices have been unable to gain a foothold so far in the US smartphone market, but God knows Microsoft and its partners are throwing everything at you in the hope that something will stick.

You have your high-enders, whose number should grow following Nokia’s May 14 London event, but also your dirt-cheap entry-level gadgets. A new fellow of the latter category is reportedly ready to make its US debut, following previous releases in parts of Asia.

This one doesn’t have the support of a big brand name like Nokia or Samsung, but it could well make some waves given we expect it to really be uber-cheap. Meet the Huawei Ascend W1, the Chinese company’s first Windows Phone 8 effort.

The little guy has no exact price tag attached, but everything will be unraveled before the end of the month, with Walmart announced as the first American retailer to get it. Sporting a fairly modest 4-inch 800 x 480 pix res screen, the W1 has mostly mediocre internals – 1.2 GHz dual-core CPU, 512 MB of RAM, 4 GB of storage.

Still, with a 1,950 mAh battery beneath the hood, 5 MP camera slapped on the back and microSD support, you could probably do a lot worse. Right?